My December column
has annually been a wrap up and re-visitation of the most asked questions for
the year. I regularly monitor PPFA Hitchhikers, The Grumble, and PFM Framer to
Framer just to make sure everyone is on track and to keep up with current
affairs. I also receive regular emails and calls with questions and for advice
on what to do, what to buy, and just for moral support. Who knew when I began
writing this column in 1991 I'd turn into the industry Ann Landers of mounting.

Mounting items this
year included the usual suspects like digital canvases and photographs, but
there were lots of unusual things too. The forums saw numerous discussions over
mounting and framing leather, silk, papyrus, papercuts, vellum, bark paintings
(tapa cloth), and even art made of butterfly wings. Since traveling to
other continents is becoming common place, the art being framed has become much
more diverse.

Bo Leaf Paintings

Bo Leaf paintings from India are opaque tempera paint on very
delicate spade shaped leaves from the Bo Tree (photo 1). Problem is, these are lacy ivory colored leaves that are
best showcased when mounted to a contrasting decorative backing. The leaves are
often spot glued to a dark backing paper the weight and feel of construction
paper, then covered with a protective glassine sheet. Be very careful if
attempting to remove the leaf from the backing as they tear very easily.

If unable to easily remove the leaf from the backing, mat
over the edges of the black backing. With the advent of computerized mat
cutters, emulating the shape of the leaf with a decorative top mat may be the
design solution to a solidly attached leaf and backing. A common paint media in
many cultures is tempera pigment, such as the paint on the Bo leaf. It is a
mineral pigment mixed with egg yolk, gum or glue to create a painting emulsion
for use on natural materials. Art
created on materials such as Bo Leaf, bark paintings, papyrus or Kozo paper may
also have an uneven or ragged edge.

Papyrus Paintings

The Egyptian
painting in photo 2 uses tempera
on a woven papyrus reed sheet. Though heat safe, they should be considered
moisture sensitive. Cut papyrus reeds
are interwoven and pounded to form a meshed sheet, then dried. They are used
for writing or painting. The ragged edged, or out-of-square, construction may either be covered by a window
mat or floated to showcase the reeds by preservation float hinges, S-hinges or
dry float mounting.

Use only dry heat when flattening papyrus. Never introduce steam
or moisture of any kind, including humidifiers, as moisture can make the reeds
come apart or cause the paint to soften and smear. Float mounting is the best
presentation, allowing them to revel in their natural warpage. They should look
like the natural plant reeds they are.

Dry Float Mounting

The small
contemporary calligraphy has been written on heavy kozo paper with four deckled
edges, requiring float mounting. The dry float mount process would be perfect
for this piece. Size a heat activated foam board to the desired outside frame
dimension and cut a square edge fallout 1/2" smaller than the art to be
floated (photo 4). Make sure to
overcut at the corners a full 1" to insure a clean cut foam corner (photo 5). Place a faint "x"
in pencil on the backside of the adhesive fallout and the remaining window to
help identify the non-adhesive side of the HA foam (photo 6). Remove fallout, turn it over and reinsert into the foam
window. The fallout must be cut perpendicular and not traditionally window
bevel cut or the fallout will not fit back into the opening when reversed.

Turn the foam
board so the X of the window mat is face up indicating it is not the
adhesive side of the board. Align the deckled art over the extended overcut
corners to square it up on the foam (photo
7).

Make sure there is
a visible X to indicate the nonadhesive side of the HA foam board, otherwise
the adhesive on the window support will also bond to the art deckle edge.

Depending on the
value of the art, and the customer, any heat activated (HA) foam board may be
used for this technique. There are permanent high temperature boards, that bond
at F185; more delicate low temperature, short dwell time boards that bond at
F150; and reversible HA boards that also bond at low F150 temperatures. It's
not the adhesive that makes any specific process non-archival. Even if
removable, when adhesive remains within a removed piece of art it is
nonreversible. It should also be stressed that the actual dry mount adhesive
(as with many pressure-sensitives) are basically inert and stable, making them
preservation quality even though they are not reversible.

Mount in
mechanical or hot vacuum press at desired HA temperature. By placing the window
foam around the fallout the art will not be dented at the edges in the press
during mounting. Once cooled under a weight, gently remove the fallout with
attached art. It will be mounted to the fallout with a beautiful deckle edge
surrounding and hanging over the edge (photo
8). Now the raised float mount may be positioned over a decorative mat
within a window and framed (photo 9).
The float mount may then be placed within the window mat design with or without
an elevated, single mat, multiple mat, or commercial spacer. Just make sure the
art does not touch the glazing.

Panorama Photos

Thanks to
wide-format printers and RA-4 photo developing we now have many fine art
photographers and publishers producing long narrow images, with 24" wide
by 90" long common these days. There have been many questions asking what
is the best mount board to use for oversize or extra long panorama images. First
order of business is to locate a rigid substrate long enough for the project,
then a machine capable of mounting it.

Gatorfoam,
MightyCore, Smooth Mount, Sintra, even Masonite (if you don't mind the base
material) are all substrates strong enough if they are large enough. Roller
laminators using Neschen Gudy 870 or Drytac MediaTac high tack
pressure-sensitive adhesive would be the best choice. Stay away from
repositionable P-S adhesives because the longevity may have been sacrificed for
repositionability.

Face Mounting

As more and more
framers purchase cold roller laminators, more are thinking about the
possibilities of face mounting, and I have read a few posts this year
suggesting face mounting of panoramic photos as an option. As long as there is
an available substrate rigid and long enough to handle it, and you are up to
speed on the technique it might be a good option. But I would never consider
this process unless you are well practiced in the art of face mounting to
acrylic and have the correct pressure-sensitive adhesive designed for the
technique, which is crystal clear.

Framers be
careful...this is not a process that may be done with regular dry mount film
adhesives in a heat press or with any typical P-S film such as PerfectMount,
Gudy 870, or PMA. I have seen it advised on some of the forums as an
alternative to mounting digitals. This is an involved process that takes
practice and more than anything else...the right materials. More on face
mounting in an upcoming 2007 article.

Warping Issues

The question of
substrate rigidity brings to mind another issue I noticed frequently this year:
framers using board much too thin to accommodate the image they are mounting.
There is more to successful

mount than just
TTPM. Time, temperature, pressure and moisture are all imperative, but even if
you have controlled all of these, if the selected substrate is too flimsy for
the size and weight of the art warping will occur.

A basic rule of
thumb for mat and foam substrates is 4-ply for up to 8x10"; 1/8" foam
for 8x10" to 16x20"; 3/16" for 16x20" to 32x40"; and
½" over 32x40". More rigid boards will handle larger images as

a thinner
substrate. Just as orange peel is the result of mounting to a lumpy surface,
warping is the result of mounting to a board too thin.

Countermounting

There are two
solutions to the warping issue: 1) mount to a more rigid or thicker board; or
2) countermount the thinner selection. Countermounting is the act of facing the
verso side of the thinner board to compensate for the surface tension created
by the adhesive and art. Sample boards for this article have been wet and dry
mounted to illustrate the results of a heavy 60# open edition paper print on
both 2-ply and 4-ply boards. Since a 2-ply board is never thick enough to
really be used as a valid substrate it is a perfect board to illustrate
countermounting techniques.

The pink 2-ply wet
mounted sample is very warped in photo
10, while the white 4-ply is fairly
flat. This shows even a small 8x10 requires at a least 4-ply substrate. The dry
mounted sample in photo 11 is the
same weight print on the same test substrates. Note the cat on the 2-ply (L) is
visibly warped while the cat on the 4-ply (R) lies flatter. Now take the same
dry mount adhesive and 2-ply substrate with a heavier RC photograph and the
warping includes additional cockling (photo
12). The same RC photo on the right was counter mounted with the same size
and weight photo on the verso side to counter the back by creating exactly the
same tension.

When
countermounting, it is necessary to match your materials to the project. A 60#
image must be backed with another 60# image. An over laminate must be backed
with a matched laminated image. Ansel Adams dry mounted all of his fine art photographs,
but he also countermounted every one with discarded photo images of the same
size and weight on the back. Countermounting requires mounting of equal weight
(thickness) and porosity with the same adhesive on the back...or don't bother.

Year in Review

That seems to be
the year in review. Not a lot of the same questions over and over, but more of
a diversity of assorted new, cool, and unusual items from around the globe to
frame. Digitals are alive and well and causing more problems than ever, but
they will never go away. So on behalf of digitals and digitals canvases
everywhere...happy holidays and we will revisit you in 2007.

END

Photo 1Bo
Leaf

This pair of Bo
Tree leaves from India are painted with opaque tempera.

The delicate
leaves are spot mounted to a black backing with a glassine cover.

Removal from the
backing may damage the leaf, so be very careful or mat over the backing.